Tundra Camper Adventures: A Family’s Overland Journey

Tundra Camper Adventures

Thomas Henwood purchased this ‘16 Toyota Tundra Double Cab SR5 4X4 new in June 2016. It serves as his daily driver, family camper and off-road adventuremobile. With some key modifications Henwood has turned this basic half-ton pickup into a truly comfortable and capable overland machine, which offers needed versatility to his busy, active life.

Henwood has two young daughters, age 8 and age 5. Besides being a Dad, he’s also a motorcycle enthusiast, hunter and general outdoorsman. He’s one of the three brothers who run Main Line Overland (MLO), an off-road and overland vehicle outfitter shop, with locations in West Chester, Pennsylvania, and Bow, New Hampshire. Wrap all that together and you have a lot of requirements for one vehicle to fulfill.

“WITH SOME KEY MODIFICATIONS, HENWOOD HAS TURNED THIS BASIC HALF-TON PICKUP INTO A TRULY COMFORTABLE AND CAPABLE OVERLAND MACHINE, WHICH OFFERS NEEDED VERSATILITY TO HIS BUSY, ACTIVE LIFE.”

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Toyota Passion

Henwood has been a longtime Toyota off-road vehicle enthusiast. He loves a tried and tested vehicle, especially based on body-on-frame architecture that offers common parts availability and has a solid reputation for longevity. Before the Tundra, Henwood’s primary rig was a five-speed third-gen 4Runner SR5 he bought new off the lot in 2000 and had meticulously maintained for over 15 years. While he loved that vehicle for its ruggedness, no-fuss ownership and go-anywhere size, his growing family dictated the need for a larger vehicle.

A pickup truck that would work as a daily driver and be able to handle a truck camper was Henwood’s answer. The wider track-width of a full-size pickup would allow for comfortable cross-country travel with a truck camper, and would also be capable enough for mild off-road trails, especially after some key modifications. A limited budget and a tall list of desires ruled out the current crop of big diesel trucks, and squarely pointed towards the half-ton options on the market.

As a Four Wheel Campers dealer, MLO up fits a wide variety of trucks for mild to wild off-road use as truck camper platforms. A number of customers have come through the shop in recent years with all generations of Toyota Tundras, which have sparked Henwood’s imagination. A modestly built, appropriately speced new Tundra seemed to fit the bill for his overland adventuremobile dreams, lengthy requirement list and budget.

Why Tundra

The Toyota Tundra has always been a well-loved and quality truck platform, but is sometimes overlooked in the ultra-competitive half-ton truck market. As a truck camper platform, the Tundra actually works quite well as it’s really a half-ton plus truck.

This ‘16 Double Cab Tundra has a 1,620-pound payload and 10,000-pound plus towing capacity. While it can’t carry as much as a larger pickup, those numbers are plenty sufficient for Henwood’s needs. By using a lightweight pop-up truck camper this truck offers plenty of capacity for lots of fuel, people and gear.

Picking the right options from the factory saves you time and money when trying to build the perfect vehicle for your needs. Henwood was very specific with what he wanted. While the Crew Max Tundra offers extra cabin room and the awesome power rear window like Henwood’s old 4Runner, it didn’t offer the 6.5-foot bed that he needed for both the most popular Four Wheel Campers model, the Hawk, or the space to haul two large dual-sport motorcycles—both jobs that Henwood’s truck would need to do regularly. The Double Cab Tundra was just the right balance of family hauler and gear hauler for Henwood’s needs.

“THE TOYOTA TUNDRA HAS ALWAYS BEEN A WELL-LOVED AND QUALITY TRUCK PLATFORM, BUT IS SOMETIMES OVERLOOKED IN THE ULTRA-COMPETITIVE HALF-TON TRUCK MARKET. AS A TRUCK CAMPER PLATFORM, THE TUNDRA ACTUALLY WORKS QUITE WELL, AS IT’S REALLY A HALF-TON PLUS TRUCK.”

This Tundra came stock with the TRD off-road package’s Bilstein shocks and 4WD with low range and the towing package, which offers 4.30 gears and a massive 10.5-inch ring gear. This combo provided a great starting point for running larger wheel and tire combos without compromising on available torque, and allowing the possibility of re-gearing down the line.

In order to keep quality traction in the rear-end of the truck, a limited-slip rear differential was speced from the factory, which uses opposite side braking and can be turned off with the push of a button. While a selectable air locker might still happen some day, this saves some money up front and offers quality capability both off road and in wet and/or snowy conditions.

The Tundra’s 5.7L 32 valve V-8 is a powerful engine that offers up reasonable fuel economy and a proven architecture, as the same engine is found in the 200 Series Land Cruiser. With 381 hp and 401 lb-ft of torque on tap this truck has no issues tackling off-road obstacles or hauling adventure gear. On average this Tundra gets around 15 miles per gallon, which for sure isn’t all that great. With a 38-gallon fuel tank it does get about 550 miles of range, which is more than enough for North American overland adventures.

Rolling Stock

The first modifications to a build like this should almost always be tires, wheels and suspension. Henwood started with the wheels, choosing custom-made EVO Corse Dakar Zeros in matte black. These are super high quality and beautiful wheels, which are race proven. They were run by six of the Top 10 finishers in the car category at the ‘18 Dakar rally.

MLO is the distributor for EVO Corse in the U.S. and sent them custom specs for these wheels, which are now a standard offering for the Tundra, LC 200 and Sequoia. They ended up going with a 17×8 wheel with a 5×150 bolt pattern, 110mm center bore and an ET:40 offset. This setup keeps the tread face of the tire just inside the stock wheel wells, proper clearance for the Tundra’s brakes, and allows for tires with considerable side wall, for proper aired down off-road driving.

A set of BFG KO2 E-rated tires, in a 12.5×35 size were wrapped around the beautiful EVO Corse wheels. These tires offer the needed load capacity to haul a camper, all-season performance, off-road capability and relatively civilized on-road manners.

Off-Road Capability

A 2.5-inch lift from Old Man Emu was fitted, in order to gain some ground clearance and allow full articulation of the new 35-inch tires under the truck. The lift kit uses OME Nitrocharger Sport mono-tube shocks and custom rear leaf packs, as well as SPC Performance adjustable upper control arms.

The most noticeable upgrade on this truck is the color matched ARB Deluxe ‘07-‘13 Tundra Bull Bar. It looks fantastic, is air bag compliant and is the mount for the lighting and winching accessories. Two IPF 900XS Extreme LED driving lights, a flood and a spot, are mounted atop the bumper while a Warn M12-S winch is mounted within the bumper. Finishing off the front end is a custom MLO offset hawse fairlead and Factor 55 Expert link.

The FWC Hawk

Henwood goes to lots of events for work, loves to take his kids out on weekend camping adventures and does a wide variety of outdoor activities. All of this combines for the need to have a home on wheels that is both comfortable and versatile, as it needs to sleep one to three people in a wide range of climates on a regular basis. The Four Wheel Camper Hawk shell model is the perfect tool for this task.

“THE WIDER TRACK-WIDTH OF A FULL-SIZE PICKUP WOULD ALLOW FOR COMFORTABLE CROSS-COUNTRY TRAVEL WITH A TRUCK CAMPER, AND WOULD ALSO BE CAPABLE ENOUGH FOR MILD OFF-ROAD TRAILS, ESPECIALLY AFTER SOME KEY MODIFICATIONS.”

The FWC Hawk shell model has all the necessities, a versatile layout and only a few of the frills that drive up weight and price. Sleeping is in the cab over bed and the rollover couch. All-weather comfort is accomplished through lots of windows and ventilation, a propane forced air heater and a “Thermal Pack” removable insulation layer on the pop-up walls. A flush mounted counter-top stainless steel propane stove assists with out-of-the-weather cooking and a camper battery system with DC outlets keeps camper life powered up. An 8-foot side awning creates shaded and out-of-the-rain outdoor living space.

The FWC Hawk shell model weighs in at only 1,100 lbs, which is quite light for a well-appointed camper that can sleep four. It works well in a wide variety of climates and provides a huge amount of hangout space out of the weather. It really is perfect for Henwood, as he can sleep in heated comfort with the top down during long work transits, pop the top and enjoy the space with his whole family on weekend adventures and entertain out of the weather on ski trips, ADV moto adventures and hunting excursions with friends.

Not a Tacoma

Sure Henwood considered a Tacoma for this build, as it is super popular and many of the customers at MLO are using the platform. He basically looks at the Tundra as a slightly wider, more powerful gear hauling and comfortable Tacoma.

The more upright driving position offered in the Tundra is more conducive to long road trip comfort and the extra vehicle width and load capacity are better suited for hauling the camper and his family. While it doesn’t fit down some of the narrower trails on the east coast, it is a small compromise to pay for the on and off-road comfort.

Henwood comments, “Add the camper and the mods we’ve made and time and again it has proven itself equal to anything you would reasonably—or unreasonably—throw at a 4×4 truck camper rig.”

“THE MORE UPRIGHT DRIVING POSITION OFFERED IN THE TUNDRA IS MORE CONDUCIVE TO LONG ROAD TRIP COMFORT AND THE EXTRA VEHICLE WIDTH AND LOAD CAPACITY ARE BETTER SUITED FOR HAULING THE CAMPER AND HIS FAMILY.”

What The Future Holds

While this Tundra is a mild build in terms of volume of aftermarket parts thrown at it, it is well-appointed with top quality functional modifications. Henwood isn’t done with it however, and plans some quality upgrades in the near future, both to make it more off-road capable and even better at carrying a load.

In order to make it just a bit more off-road capable Henwood plans to add proper rock sliders and aluminum skid plates, to protect the oil sump, transfer case and rear differential. In order to handle the weight of a fully appointed camper, versus the shell model he runs now, Henwood plans to add airbags with Daystar cradles. This setup will help with load leveling without hindering wheel articulation. An on-board air compressor system will make airbag adjustments a breeze, make airing back up after an off-road excursion at lower tire pressures possible and allow Henwood to run air tools for trailside repairs.

While Henwood doesn’t see selling this build anytime soon, it could pretty easily be brought back to stock, maximizing his resale value. The one exception is the front bumper, which required some plastic trimming to make the aftermarket ARB unit fit properly.

UPGRADES

2016 MLO Toyota Tundra

PLATFORM: 2016TOYOTATUNDRADOUBLECABSR54X4

ENGINE: 5.7L 32-VALVE V-8

SUSPENSION: OME NITROCHARGER SPORT SUSPENSION, CUSTOM OME DAKAR LEAF SPRINGS, SPC ADJUSTABLE UPPER CONTROL ARMS

WHEELS & TIRES: 17 X 8 EVO CORSE DAKAR ZERO WHEELS, 12.5X35 BFG E-RATED KO2 TIRES

CAMPER: FWC HAWK SHELL MODEL ACCESSORIES: COLOR-MATCHED ‘07-‘13 TUNDRA ARB DELUXE BULL BAR, IPF 900XS EXTREME LED DRIVING LIGHTS/ FLOOD & SPOT, WARN M12-S WINCH, MLO OFF-SET HAWSE FAIRLEAD, FACTOR 55 EXPERT LINK